Dietary carotenoid intake is associated with lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and elderly men.

Carotenoids have antioxidant properties. Little is known about the relation of dietary carotenoid intake on metabolic syndrome risk. We examined whether dietary carotenoid intake was associated with metabolic syndrome and metabolic syndrome risk factors.

Unexpected lower prevalence of depression in patients with diabetes: selection bias in a waiting room population.

Background: We initially studied the association between diabetes and depression in general practice attendees. Subsequently, we investigated whether our findings were influenced by selection bias.

Methods: Unexpectedly, the prevalence of depression was lower in diabetes patients (4%) than in subjects without diabetes (14%).

Dealing with missing predictor values when applying clinical prediction models.

Background: Prediction models combine patient characteristics and test results to predict the presence of a disease or the occurrence of an event in the future. In the event that test results (predictor) are unavailable, a strategy is needed to help users applying a prediction model to deal with such missing values. We evaluated 6 strategies to deal with missing values.

Effect of lowering blood pressure on cardiovascular events and mortality in patients on dialysis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Background: Patients undergoing dialysis have a substantially increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Although several trials have shown the cardiovascular benefits of lowering blood pressure in the general population, there is uncertainty about the efficacy and tolerability of reducing blood pressure in patients on dialysis. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of blood pressure lowering in patients on dialysis.

A simple method to adjust clinical prediction models to local circumstances.

Introduction: Clinical prediction models estimate the risk of having or developing a particular outcome or disease. Researchers often develop a new model when a previously developed model is validated and the performance is poor. However, the model can be adjusted (updated) using the new data.

PPAR gamma variant influences angiographic outcome and 10-year cardiovascular risk in male symptomatic coronary artery disease patients.

Objective: Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma signaling influences metabolic profiles and the propensity toward inflammation. Small-molecule stimulation of PPARgamma is investigated for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The common PPARgamma Pro12Ala variant has functional and prognostic consequences.

Lowering blood pressure reduces renal events in type 2 diabetes.

BP is an important determinant of kidney disease among patients with diabetes. The recommended thresholds to initiate treatment to lower BP are 130/80 and 125/75 mmHg for people with diabetes and nephropathy, respectively. We sought to determine the effects of lowering BP below these currently recommended thresholds on renal outcomes among 11,140 patients who had type 2 diabetes and participated in the Action in Diabetes and Vascular disease: preterAx and diamicroN-MR Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) study.

Validation of previously identified serum biomarkers for breast cancer with SELDI-TOF MS: a case control study.

Background: Serum protein profiling seems promising for early detection of breast cancer. However, the approach is also criticized, partly because of difficulties in validating discriminatory proteins. This study's aim is to validate three proteins previously reported to be discriminative between breast cancer cases and healthy controls.

Vasomotor symptoms are associated with a lower bone mineral density.

Objective: The severity of vasomotor symptoms has been hypothesized to be linked to a lower bone mineral density (BMD). We examined whether women with vasomotor symptoms are different from women without symptoms with regard to BMD.

Methods: We used data from a population-based sample of 5,600 women, aged 46 to 57 years and free from bone diseases, who participated in the first cross-sectional part of the Eindhoven Perimenopausal Osteoporosis Study between 1994 and 1995.

Is the randomized controlled drug trial in Europe lagging behind the USA?

Aims: Performance of randomized controlled drug trials (drugRCTs) adds to the scientific output, scientific knowledge, scientific training and up-to-date status of healthcare and may drive economy. The purpose of this study was to benchmark Europe's position on drugRCTs relative to the rest of the world, and to identify factors that may drive this performance.

Methods: The number of scientific publications on drugRCTs, indexed in PubMed and Thomson Scientific/Web of Science database over the period 1995-2004, was used as a proxy measure for the quantitative drugRCT output.

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor torcetrapib and off-target toxicity: a pooled analysis of the rating atherosclerotic disease change by imaging with a new CETP inhibitor (RADIANCE) trials.

Background: Torcetrapib, an inhibitor of cholesteryl ester transfer protein, has been shown to increase the cardiovascular event rate despite conferring a significant high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increase. Using data from the Rating Atherosclerotic Disease Change by Imaging with a New CETP Inhibitor [corrected] (RADIANCE) trials, which assessed the impact of torcetrapib on carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), we sought to explore potential mechanisms underlying this adverse outcome.

Methods And Results: Data from the RADIANCE 1 and 2 studies, which examined cIMT in 904 subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia and in 752 subjects with mixed dyslipidemia, were pooled.

Parental smoking and vascular damage in young adult offspring: is early life exposure critical? The atherosclerosis risk in young adults study.

Objective: Our purpose was to study the association between familial and particularly fetal tobacco smoke exposure and vascular damage in young adulthood.

Methods And Results: From a cohort of 732 young adults, birth data were collected and in young adulthood ultrasound measurement of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) was performed. Data on parental smoking were obtained by standardized questionnaires.

The M235T variant of the angiotensinogen gene is related to development of self-reported hypertension during pregnancy: the Prospect-EPIC cohort study.

Angiotensinogen gene (AGT) M235T polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of hypertension. It is unknown whether this mutation also leads to an increased risk of development of high blood pressure (BP) in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of this polymorphism with elevated blood pressure during pregnancy in a population of healthy Dutch women.

CETP genotype predicts increased mortality in statin-treated men with proven cardiovascular disease: an adverse pharmacogenetic interaction.

Aims: Inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) increases HDL-cholesterol. However, its combination with statins may increase mortality by factors incompletely understood. We previously observed that patients with intrinsically low CETP levels (carriers of the TaqIB-B2 allele) may have less benefit from statin therapy, and here tested this pharmacogenetic hypothesis on long-term outcomes.

Long-term effects on cancer survivors' quality of life of physical training versus physical training combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy: results from a randomized trial.

Background: We compared the effect of a 12-week group-based multidisciplinary self-management rehabilitation program, combining physical training (twice weekly) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (once weekly) with the effect of 12-week group-based physical training (twice weekly) on cancer survivors' quality of life over a 1-year period.

Materials And Methods: One hundred forty-seven survivors [48.8 +/- 10.

No association of PTPN1 polymorphisms with macronutrient intake and measures of adiposity.

The protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type1 (PTPN1) gene encodes for the protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, which suppresses the signaling pathway of leptin. Variations of the PTPN1 gene may lead to changes in leptin sensitivity and thereby influence eating behavior and measures of obesity. This study investigated the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the PTPN1 gene and eating behavior and different measures of obesity, including visceral fat.

Sex hormones and cognitive decline in elderly men.

Decline of cognitive function with age may be due, in part, to hormonal changes and it has been hypothesized that higher levels of endogenous sex hormones preserve brain function. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to determine the relative contribution of endogenous sex hormones to cognitive decline in a population-based sample of 242 elderly men aged 73-91 at baseline. Endogenous sex hormone levels were measured at baseline and participants underwent a cognitive assessment at baseline and at follow-up after 4 years.

Soy protein containing isoflavones and mammographic density in a randomized controlled trial in postmenopausal women.

Background: The relatively high dietary intake of soy in Asian countries has been hypothesized to, at least partly, explain the lower breast cancer incidence patterns in these countries compared with the Western world. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of daily soy supplementation on mammographic density, one of the strongest known risk factors for breast cancer.

Methods: A double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was conducted to compare the effects of soy protein intake containing 99 mg isoflavones daily with intake of milk protein (placebo) for the duration of 1 year.

Mutations in the HFE gene and cardiovascular disease risk: an individual patient data meta-analysis of 53 880 subjects.

Background: Whether mutations in the hemochromatosis (HFE) gene increase cardiovascular disease risk is still undetermined. The main reason is the low frequency of the mutations, in particular of the compound C282Y/H63D genotype. We combined the data of 11 observational studies for an individual patient data meta-analysis.

The risk of severe postoperative pain: modification and validation of a clinical prediction rule.

Background: Recently, a prediction rule was developed to preoperatively predict the risk of severe pain in the first postoperative hour in surgical inpatients. We aimed to modify the rule to enhance its use in both surgical inpatients and outpatients (ambulatory patients). Subsequently, we prospectively tested the modified rule in patients who underwent surgery later in time and in another hospital (external validation).

Reproductive factors, metabolic factors, and coronary artery calcification in older women.

Objective: Metabolic disturbances may explain the increased cardiovascular risk associated with reproductive factors. This cohort study investigated the relationship between reproductive factors and coronary artery calcification in elderly women and whether this relationship could be explained by metabolic disturbances.

Design: In total, 568 postmenopausal women were included in this cross-sectional study.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging to identify left-sided chronic heart failure in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Although cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is well established, its diagnostic accuracy in identifying chronic heart failure (CHF) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not yet been quantified.

Methods: Participants were recruited from a cohort of 405 patients aged >or=65 years, with mild to moderate and stable COPD. In this population, 83 (20.

Predictors of improved quality of life 1 year after pacemaker implantation.

Background: Patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of pacemaker (PM) patients has increasingly become an important issue of health care evaluation. Currently, knowledge of pacing performance and technology is more or less outlined. However, determinants of poor or good HRQoL of paced patients require further elucidation.